Joint Statement from the ODNI and the DOJ on the Declassification of Renewal of Collection Under Section 501 of FISA

On September 12, 2014, the Director of National Intelligence declassified and disclosed publicly that the U.S. government had filed an application with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the FISC renewed that authority.

The FISC’s September 11, 2014, Primary Order renewing the collection expires on December 5, 2014. The DNI also announced that the Administration was undertaking a declassification of the September 11, 2014, Primary Order. Following this declassification review by the Executive Branch, the DNI has declassified and released in redacted form the September 11, 2014, Primary Order, signed by Judge Raymond J Dearie.

This order is now publicly available at the ODNI website, dni.gov, and the ODNI’s public website dedicated to fostering greater public visibility into the intelligence activities of the Government, icontherecord.tumblr.com.